Where's your data?

When you started your new business, you kept all your files on your PC, didn't you? It was simple, you just went to your Documents folder and there they all were. You backed up your data to a USB stick or perhaps to the cloud and you were happy. You knew where everything was and could find anything immediately.

Your business was doing so well that you couldn't keep up with demand so you took on your first employee, Sandra. Sandra was great. She was going to go out and about and see you clients in their offices. So you bought her a laptop and configured it with a work email address. Off she went, in to the big wide world. You had a call from Sandra - "please could you send me the latest price list". "Sure, no problem" you reply and you send her a quick email with the price list attached. You also send her the latest product sheet so she has all the details of the items that she's selling. Sales go up. Profit goes up. Life is great.

Time goes on and the business grows. Rick and Clem join the team - both with laptops and work email addresses.

But then it all starts to get confusing, Sandra is working from an out of date price list, Clem updated the product list but forgot to send it to Rick. Your laptop is stolen and you hadn't done a backup for a fortnight. Argh!

What now?

Time to take a step back and put a plan in place. Take advantage of the technology that's out there to centralise your files. Dropbox, Box, SharePoint or Egnyte to name a few. They're all good but depending on your requirements, one may be better than the other. But the main thing is that you have one "live" copy of your files and this is where all your team can go to get the files they need. Then make sure that the files are backed up. Now you know where all your data is and life is great again!

To find out how technology can simplify your life, get in touch with us at hello@rethinkyourit.co.uk. We look forward to hearing from you.